A friend commented to me that they work in the nonprofit sector because they can see the cathedral they are building daily. When they worked in the corporate sector they felt like a stone mason that never had the joy of seeing their work’s contribution to the greater good. If you consider this for a moment, one of the competitive advantages for a social sector employee is that they have a chance to change the face of a community and witness the impact of their work everyday. Staff members are often associated with the nonprofit that employees them when in public in much the same way that a community member might recognize a fire fighter or police officer out of uniform. The sense of contribution is a powerful force. I believe that there is plenty of opportunities for many enterprise to maximizes the emotional resonance that a sense of contribution brings to a workplace.

The Gallup organization has a great evaluation instrument outlined in Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman’s book First, Break All The Rules. There thirteen statements. As an example, number 9 reads, “The mission/purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.” When evaluated along with answers to the other statements inquiring about having the right tools, understanding the expectations and receiving recognition, the Gallup organization found a correlation between remarkable teams and those that failed to meet expectations.

Do you find opportunities for the staff to be recognized for their professional talents? Does the staff get a chance to see the cathedral they are building and understand how their effort contribute to the structure? Is the mission of your organization making their job feel important?